I. Multiple Choice

1. Generally, the Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries, its essence is _______________.

A. science B. philosophy C. arts D. humanism

2. The sentence “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” is the line from one of Shakespeare’s _________________.

A. comedies B. tragedies C. histories D. sonnets

3. Which of the following statements best illustrates the theme of Shakespeare‘s Sonnet 18?

A. The speaker eulogizes (praise) the power of the sun.

B. The speaker satirizes human vanity

C. The speaker praises the power of artistic creation

D. The speaker meditates on man‘s salvation

4. “The Fairy Queen” is the masterpiece written by ______________.

A. John Milton B. Geoffrey Chaucer C. Edmund Spenser D. Alexander Pope 5. The Renaissance is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, which one of the following is NOT

such an event?

A. The rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture.

B. England’s domestic rest

C. New discovery in geography and astrology

D. The religious reformation and the economic expansion

6. .“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, /So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (Shakespeare, Sonnets18)

What does “this” refer to ?

A. Lover. B. Time. C. Summer. D. Poetry.

7. According to Thomas More, “it was a time when sheep devoured men”. It refers to _______________.

A. Industrialization B. Religious Reformation C. Commercial Expansion D. Enclosure Movement

8. It was ___________ who introduce sonnet into English literature.

A. Thomas Wyatt B. William Shakespeare C. Edmund Spenser D. Philip Sidney 9. Which of the following is not Shakespeare’s tragedy?

A. King Lear B. Hamlet C. Othello D. The Merchant of Venice

10. It was ____who made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in drama.

A. Thomas Wyatt B. William Shakespeare C. Edmund Spenser D. Christopher Marlowe 11. Hamlet, the most popular of Shakespeare's plays for readers and theater audiences, tells about the story of Hamlet,

Prince of _______, and son of the dead king, who seeks revenge for his father’s death.

A. England B. Norway C. Scotland D. Denmark

12. Which of the following is not written by Francis Bacon?

A. Advancement of Learning B. The New Instrument C. Auld Lang Syne D. Novum Organum

13. ___________ is given the title “poet’s poet”.

A. Chaucer B. Edmund Spencer C. Robert Burns D. Henry Fielding

14. Generally, the Renaissance refers to the period between __________ and _________ centuries.

A. 14th…mid-17th B. 14th…mid-18th C. 16th…mid-18th D. 16th…mid-17th 15. The greatest of Pioneers of English drama in Renaissance is ___________, one of whose drama is “Doctor Faustus”.

A. William Shakespeare B. Christopher Marlowe C. Oscar Wilde D. Brinsley Sheridan

II. Terms:

Renaissance, blank verse, sonnet, tragedy,

III. Topic Discussion

1. Comment on the character of Hamlet.

2. Brief comment on the Renaissance in England.

3. What’s the theme of Hamlet? Read Hamlet Act III and Act V, and analyze the tragic flaws of Hamlet.

4. Analyze Sonnet 18, P100.

5. Make a brief introduction to Francis Bacon and analyze his “Of Studies”.

IV. Questions and Answers

1. A Poem

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometimes declines,

…

(1). These lines are taken from a poem entitled _Sonnet 18_written by _William Shakespeare_.

(2). The rhyme scheme of the poem is _ababcdcdefefgg_.

(3). “eternal lines” in the poem refers to _artistic creation_

(4). What is the theme of the poem ?

2. A selection:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy and extracts made of them by others, but that would be only in the less important arguments and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are like common distilled waters.

Questions:

1. This passage is taken from a well-known work entitled Of Studies written by Francis Bacon.

2. What is the main idea of the whole work?

It analyzes the use and abuse of studies ,the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies. And how studies exert influence over human character.

 

第二篇：英国文学史及选读 PartV-Romanticism(with answers)

I. Multiple Choice

1. In terms of Pride and Prejudice, which is not true?

A. Pride and Prejudice is the most popular of Jane Austen’s novels. B. Pride and Prejudice is originally drafted as “First Impressions”.

C. Pride and Prejudice is a tragic novel.

D. In this novel, the author explores the relationship between great love and realistic benefits.

2. “And where are they? And where art thou,

My country? On thy voiceless shore

The heroic lay is tuneless now-

The heroic bosom beats no more! ” In the above stanza, “art thou” literally means_____.

A. “art you ” B. “are though” C. “art though” D. “are you ” 3. Of the following writers, which is not the representative of the Romantic period?

A. William Blake. B. John Bunyan. C. Jane Austen. D. John Keats.

4. Of the following poets, which is not regarded as “Lake Poets’”?

A. Saumel Taylor Coleridge. B. Robert Southey. C. William Wordsworth. D. G.G. Byron.

5. With so many poems such as “The Sparrow’s Nest”, “To a Skylark”, “To the Cuckoo” and “To a Butterfly”,

William Wordsworth is regarded as a “______”.

A. poet of genius B. royal poet C. worshipper of nature D. conservative poet

6. Which of the following cannot describe “Byronic hero”?

A. Proud. B. Mysterious. C. Noble origin. D. Progressive

7. Which of the following writings is not created by William Wordsworth?

A. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. B. She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways

C. The Solitary Reaper D. The Chimney Sweeper.

8. The Rights of Man, a pamphlet, was written by _______, in which he advocated that politics was the business of

the whole mass of common people and not only of a government oligarchy.

A. John Milton B. Jonathan Swift C. Robert Burns D. Thomas Paine

9. William Wordsworth，a romantic poet，advocated all the following EXCEPT ___________. A. the use of everyday language spoken by the common people

B. the expression of the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings

C. the use of humble and rustic life as subject matter

D. the use of elegant wording and inflated figures of speech

10. Which of the following is taken from John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn”?

A. “I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!” B. “They are both gone up to the church to pray.”

C. “Earth has not anything to show more fair.” D. “Beauty is truth，truth beauty.”

11. “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind.” is an epigrammatic line by _____________.

12. A. John Keats B. William Blake C. William Wordsworth D. P. B. Shelley

13. The main literary stream in the Romantic Period is _________.

A. poetry B. novels C. prose D. periodicals

14. Prometheus Unbound is _________ masterpiece

A. Wordsworth’s B. Byron’s C. Shelley’s D. Keat’s

15. The publication of __________ marks the beginning of the Romantic Movement in England.

A. “Tintern Abbey” B. Lyrical Ballads C. Frost at Night D. I Wandered as a Cloud

16. The best essayist in the English Romantic Period is _________.

A. John Keats B. Walter Scott C. Charles Lamb D. Jane Austen

17. ____________ is considered the father of historical novelist in the English Romantic Period.

A. Jane Austen B. Charles Lamb C. William Wordsworth D. Walter Scott

18. ____________ is a joint book by Charles Lamb and his sister.

A. John Woodvil B. Essays of Elia C. Mr. H D. Tales of Shakespeare

II. Term Translation

1. Lake Poets (湖畔派诗人) 2. Pre-romanticism(浪漫主义前期) 3. Byronic hero (拜伦式英雄)

III. Definition

1. Romanticism ： Romanticism as a literary movement came into being in England in the latter half of the 18th

century. It first made its appearance in England as a renewed interest in medieval literature. William Blake and Robert Burns represented the spirit of what is usually called Pre-Romanticism. It began in 1798 with the publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads and ended in 1832 with Walter Scott’s death.

2. Ode： Ode is a lyric poem of some length, dealing with a lofty theme in a dignified manner and originally

intended to be sung.

IV. Questions and Answers:

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Questions: This excerption is from the poem named (2’) written by (1’), who was a famous poet of (2’). The rhyme scheme of the poem is (2’).

V. Topic Discussion (30 points in all,15 points for each). Write no less than 100 words on each of the following

topics in English.

1. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen explored three kinds of motivations of marriage that the middle-class people

had in the second half of the 18th century. Try to make a brief discussion about them with specific examples from the novel. Make comments on Austen’s attitude towards these motivations.(15’)

Answers for your reference:

In the novel ,three kinds of attitudes towards marriage are presented for manifestation: marriage merely for material wealth and social position; marriage just for beauty, attraction and passion regardless of economic condition or personal merits; and the ideal marriage for true love with a consideration of the partner’s personal merit as well as his economic and social status. What Jane Austen tries to say is that it is wrong to marry just for money or for beauty, but it is also wrong to marry without consideration of economic conditions….

2. Write a summary of Pride and Prejudice and make a short comment on the theme. Your marks depends on the

elements of the writer, the main characters and their relations, the main plot and result, comment on the

theme , and grammar and. (15’)

Answer: Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen, in the romantic period. The main characters include Mr. and Mrs. Bennet; The Bennet’s 5 daughters: the beautiful Jane, the clever Elizabeth, the bookish Mary, the immature Kitty and the wild Lydia. Elizabeth—Mr. Darcy; Jane—Mr. Bingley; Lydia—Mr. Wickham are couples. The main plot and result ； Unfortunately for the Bennets, if Mr. Bennet dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependant on the daughters making good marriages. Life is uneventful until the arrival in the neighborhood of the rich gentleman Mr. Bingley, who rents a large house so he can spend the summer in the country. Mr. Bingley brings with him his sister and the dashing (and richer) but proud Mr. Darcy. Love is soon in the air for one of the Bennet sisters, while another may have jumped to a hasty prejudgment. For the Bennet sisters many trials and tribulations

stand between them and their happiness, including class, gossip and scandal. The theme of the novel is a

exploration of the marriage, property and intrigue between the main and minor characters; delicate probing of the values of gentry/ marriage, class, money.

3.

4.

5.

VI.

 

第三篇：The Ultimate Trainers

After I read this book, I think I should learn something useful and optimistic from Jake, the first character in the story. Although the ultimate trainers could bring him the first prize in the running contest, he was not with these trainers in the contest. Whatever he gets in the end, he is the best! As a

student, the first thing in our mind is not how great we do, it is we are honest to do our best.

In the end, Jake got the champion. I think it is not strange. If we try our best to do everything, we will get the best happiness in our mind.

So doing everything honestly is the most important. If we lost it, our life will not be helpful.

2014.10.17 Question:

(1) From this story, we should learn that--------------------

A. Success is the most important things in our mind.

B. Jake was an honest boy and did his best in the match while he was running.

C. Jake did not like Anna, he thought she was so boring that she could not get the champion.

D. Jake had got many champions in his running contest.

(2) From Jake, we could learn-------------------- from him.

A. Doing everything honestly is the most important in our life.

B. We should try to get success whatever we do.

C. Success is from ultimate things from others.

D. The best thing is how great we do, not how bad result we get.

2014.10.17